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Yahoo Anti-Spy Favors Yahoo's Adware Partners?

Posted by simoniker on from the yodeling dept.

prostoalex writes "Yahoo's new browser toolbar is advertised to clean out adware and spyware from the user's PC and from the sound of it is a good tool to rely on. Not so, says eWeek, whose Matt Hicks notices that Yahoo excludes by default two popular adware/spyware applications - Claria (ex-Gator) and WhenU.com - Claria has commercial bonding with Yahoo! Inc."

4 of 259 comments (clear)

  1. Wait a tick! by thewldisntenuff · · Score: 5, Informative

    Ook, let's hold on a minute...AND RTFA (Again)! Yahoo's toolbar uses PestPatrol for its' spyware application, and even the article states that "On its Web site, PestPatrol does categorize software from Claria as adware." But later states that - "In a test of PestPatrol's free, online scanning tool, eWEEK.com confirmed that it does detect the presence of Claria's GAIN software automatically." Hmph, I says...I don't think (I dunno, maybe I'm not into the /. conspiracy theory mentality yet ;) ) Yahoo! is behind this, it smells like an issue with the PestPatrol software....But who knows? Not everyone is out to get us, people....

    --
    My MythTV HowTo
  2. Absolutely untrue by Chairboy · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is wrong, NIS did not make holes in the firewall for spyware. NIS had a method for applying preset rules to known programs so they would work without the user needing to be an expert. You and I might know that a web browser needs to access outbound on port 80, as well as FTP rules, but Joe User doesn't.

    This is a great way to make a firewall usable for novices, but it had a flaw. It used the .EXE name to apply the rule, and it was quickly discovered that you could rename a malicious program to use the same name of a known good program and take advantage of those rules. This was quickly fixed by adding a digital signature database that tracked each known good EXE (each version released wherever possible) so that only the real programs could take advantage of this functionality.

    A couple of people saw the preset rules when NIS was originally released and made the assumption that since they listed a bunch of programs, there must be spyware in there. This was not true, and the NIS team watched those new rules like a hawk to make sure that no bad guys got in.

    How do I know this? Because I worked on NIS 2000 2.0 and had the privilege of leading the NIS 2001 through NIS 2004 quality assurance team.

    FUD is not something that Microsoft has a monopoly on, as the parent post proves, well meaning but wrong end users can dish it out too.

  3. Re:This is not a first by TheUnFounded · · Score: 5, Informative

    I think google nicely sums up what malware really is

  4. Or you can just click "Also scan for adware" by sleepyrobot · · Score: 5, Informative
    This is a mountain made from a mole hill. All the user has to do is check the box that says "Also scan for adware" in the main dialog box of the application, and the tool will delete Claria and the rest of the intrusive garbage on the user's machine.

    Here is a screenshot that shows how simple it is to remove adware using the tool.

    Yahoo Anti-Spy

    The article makes it sound like you have to go clicking through a bunch of option screens, but the truth is that removing adware is exactly one click more complex that simply running the program.

    You guys are so ready to excoriate Yahoo, but all they've done is provide a free, easy-to-use tool for common users to delete crap from their computers. So what if they rely on the user to click *one cleary labeled check box* to delete software created by Yahoo's own business partners?

    Keep in mind that the program has no negative side effects...even according to the progam's critics, its worst sin is a sin of omission.